Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Patchouli 1969 Eau de Parfum has a bouquet of earthy, damp patchouli with aromatic, spiced, green cardamom and citrus that just… dissipated in the first hour and left almost no trace behind. I re-tested and came up empty again after an hour.

I decided to still share my experience because it’s true to how it played out on my skin, but I note that it seems quite unusual against others who have tried it and also my own experience with the Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier brand, where I have tried a few scents and did not have issues with longevity (Ambre Precieux is one of my personal favorites, too).

Patchouli 1969 Notes

It is described as having a “hippie chic spirit” but with “newness of ideas, colours, and exuberance.” These are the notes:

• top notes: cardamom, patchouli, petit grain bigarade
• heart notes: patchouli, jasmine, rose, elemi
• base notes: sandalwood, muscs, vanilla

What does Patchouli 1969 Smell Like?

It opened with camphorous patchouli, and then aromatic, lightly spiced, green, and crisp with cardamom with and underpinnings of bitter citrus. The patchouli was earthy, damp, and spiced with the cardamom and petit grain accentuating its place outdoors, in the garden, and made it feel like freshly-tilled soil just before dawn as morning dew sat upon lush leaves.

As it sat on my skin for a half hour, the patchouli was slightly softer, spiced and woody with less of a damp aspect. It still seemed slightly citrusy (almost lemon-like to my nose) and green around the edges, and it had a touch of muskiness. On my skin, it became a veil of scent after only an hour, which made it difficult to ascertain the remainder of its development. I tried applying more and re-testing and had no additional successful. At most, I detected a vague sense of florals with earthy patchouli and lingering cardamom.

I recommend checking out Kafkaesque’s review of the same scent, who had a much better and thorough experience of this scent (and was originally the reason I was excited to try it myself!). I have tried a few scents fromt his house previously and haven’t had longevity issues with it (Ambre Precieux, Ambre Mythique, Santal Noble).

Longevity

It lasted for a half hour until it was a skin-scent and after an hour, it was difficult to detect on my skin. This had unusually short longevity on me, and I had my husband check to see what he could smell on my arm, too, and he was puzzled as he didn’t detect anything himself.

Personal Notes

These are more subjective feelings based on what I like (or don’t like) in a perfume as well as considering the fragrance against other perfumes I own and love.

Since it did not wear right on my skin, it was obviously not a scent that worked out for me at all!

Testing Methodology

For testing, I used 1/3 of a 0.7ml sample vial dabbed to the underside and topside of my wrist area . I used an unscented moisturizer prior to applying the scent as I found scent did not hold well here otherwise.

I purchased my sample in January 2022; fragrances are known to be reformulated over their lifetime , so be mindful of when a review was made, e.g. a review from 2010 may not reflect what the same-named perfume smells like in 2022.

Availability

Cacao2 is available for $120/100ml. If possible, I highly recommend trying a fragrance before purchasing a full bottle because fragrance can wear differently just because of skin chemistry. Skin chemistry can effect not just the longevity of a fragrance but also what notes are prominent or hidden.

Patchouli 1969 Samples

We recommend the following retailers for purchasing decanted samples (typically 0.7ml to 2ml in size). This is a fuller list, so individual availability may depend on inventory.

• Jovoy Paris
• LuckyScent
• Scent Split
• Twisted Lily

Where to Buy

• LuckyScent
• Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Patchouli 1969 Perfume Review

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Patchouli 1969 Perfume Review

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Patchouli 1969 Perfume Review